Dark Horse
by germanbrothers
Summary: Gilbert has died, but his brother Ludwig is able to bring him back to life...with false memories to make Gilbert love him. [Germancest, Sci-Fi AU]
1. Chapter 1

Based on a prompt on my blog that I got a little bit ago…

I was originally supposed to do it all in 3 sentences based on a writing exercise but I just had to write a full drabble for it! This is going to be just a touch longer than what I intended originally so I'm breaking it into two parts!

**Sci-fi AU: Ludwig bringing his dead brother back to life with implanted memories to make him love him.**

* * *

Gilbert was taken from him far too early. At 27, he was struck by a car and killed instantly.

Ludwig, his younger brother, was there to watch. Worse even, he was the one that caused it.

Leading up to the that fateful afternoon was a heated argument in the Beilschmidt household. Ludwig, 24 and with nothing to lose, decided to confess to his brother - the one who had raised him since infancy, supported him, and been there for him, his one constant companion - that his feelings ran more than just brotherly.

The problem was that Gilbert had always been affectionate. Always fond of hugs, kisses on the cheek and forehead, always up for some cuddles with Ludwig. The problem was also that Ludwig thought this clearly meant something more.

Absolutely sure of himself, he approached Gilbert and stated his feelings.

Unfortunately, Gilbert did not return the feelings.

"_What do you mean, you love me? Ludwig, that isn't normal."_

_"I don't care. You love me too, don't you? You're always holding my hand, telling me you love me, are proud of me. Doesn't that mean you love me?"_

_"What? No, Ludwig, that's insane- let go of me!"_

That's how it had started. Ludwig wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Gilbert loved him; he was sure of that. How could Gilbert not love him, when they were so close? He was just playing hard to get!

Extremely hard to get.

Ludwig had grabbed Gilbert's arm and tried to kiss him - to _prove_ to him that Gilbert would like it, that they were meant to be. Gilbert landed a square kick in Ludwig's stomach and used that opportunity to leave the house. Ludwig wasn't felled by that attack too easily and chased after Gilbert. He chased him quickly, shouting after the man, not letting up on him.

That was, until Gilbert ran straight into the street and was struck. Killed instantly.

Ludwig watched it happened. Watched as Gilbert's body hit the ground in a broken, bloody heap. And maybe a normal person would have felt shock, or grief, or devastation, but something in Ludwig, at that single moment, realized something.

This was great.

He collected the body before the paramedics arrived, ignoring the driver who had gotten out of his car to see what happened.

"Hey man! He looks pretty bad! Wait, I'll call the ambulance!"

"No need," Ludwig responded over his shoulder. He turned back and headed back into the house, looking down at his brother. Despite the fact that he had just lost his most precious thing in the world, he was grinning.

Gilbert was dead - but he didn't have to be. He didn't have to be dead, and he didn't have to be without Ludwig, either. People didn't know that Ludwig was a bit of an eccentric, a bit of an inventor. Not even Gilbert had known the extent of this. So as he walked back to their house, a plan was concocted in his head, and he would die himself before he gave up on it.

* * *

That was a year ago. Bringing Gilbert back to life was easy - it only took about a month. After he revived his brother's heart and neural activity in the brain, he put him in a coma until phase two of his plan was carried out. That was the hard part.

Considering that memories are stored in the Synaptic Cleft between two neurons in the brain, and there was technically _nothing there_ but chemical responses going back and forth, it was difficult for Ludwig to artificially implant 'memories' into that synapse.

It took him eleven months to break down exactly /what memories were/ and what kind of responses bring them about and creating a chemical reaction that created imagery in the brain, until he was finally able to, with a basement surgery that lasted over sixteen hours, implant "love" into his poor brother's brain, and bring him back.

Finally, it was time to bring Gilbert back. He had kept Gilbert in the basement in a special capsule that he invented himself that would preserve his body and keep his automatic bodily processes working, but it was time to bring him out of the artificial sleep that had been placed over it.

They had one bedroom now - Gilbert's room had been gutted and turned into a research office. Gilbert's things had been integrated seamlessly into Ludwig's room, who had upgraded his own bed to a King, since he was sure that there would be two people sleeping in the bedroom after Gilbert woke up.

He lay his brother on the mattress, on _his_ side of the bed, and then sat back, watching as the last effects of sleep wore off and his brother - his lover now - opened his eyes.

_(to be continued)_


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing that Gilbert was aware of was the smell off coffee. It was some kind of spiced coffee, but it was a good, comforting smell.

Then he was aware that he was in a soft, warm bed, covered up to his shoulders. The pillow was nice and the sheets were some kind of fleece.

He opened his eyes and was staring up at the ceiling. The distinct ceiling fan told him that it was his brother's room.

No. That was wrong.

He sat up, and immediately regretted it. His entire body felt stiff and sore and he felt like he had just been hit by a car. What in God's name had happened? He tried to remember what happened before but...he couldn't.

What day was it? What time?

"Gilbert." A voice filtered into his ears and he slowly looked over to see his brother, smiling at him kindly. "It's me, it's Ludwig."

"Ludwig," he repeated. Of course it was Ludwig. He sat in a plush chair next to the bed, but something about him looked...off. "What happened?" he whispered, looking around. Not just Ludwig, but everything seemed off. Everything seemed in right order - his chest of drawers next to his brother, his side of the bed that they shared, photographs on the wall and nightstand, but yet...

It was as if he was in an exact replica of the room. He was here, and everything looked the same, however it wasn't quite right.

Ludwig gently reached out and put his hand over Gilbert's, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You were hit by a car," he said quietly. "You...you died."

"I died?" Gilbert's attention snapped from the surreal room back to his brother.

"Yes. You died. But it's okay. I brought you back to life."

Gilbert fisted the sheets underneath him. "...But how - what - how long-"

Ludwig shushed him instead of reply. He shifted and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, slipping an arm around Gilbert's shoulders gently and pulling the man against him. Gilbert allowed it, still reeling from shock. He died? He was dead? Only for a few minutes, right? People's hearts stopped sometimes but if you could get it to beat again in enough time before brain activity stopped...

"We had an argument...but I got very upset and I told you to leave. So you ran away and...you got hit by a car. That was a year ago."

"A year-" Gilbert's heart almost stopped again just from that. A year? A year ago?! What...how...

"But I couldn't just...accept that you were gone." Ludwig looked away, sounding emotional. "I love you, Gilbert. And you love me too, of course, we were just so inseperable, so I just...couldn't even think of my life without you. So I worked so hard to bring you back. I worked for a year to bring you back. And I'm so happy that it worked." He pulled Gilbert against his chest and cradled him there.

Gilbert slowly, uncertainly, slipped his arms around Ludwig. This seemed...familiar. Kind of. He wasn't even letting himself process it. Gilbert had died, Ludwig had brought him back to life, a year later.

"How did you..." was all he could muster out.

"I always loved biology and anatomy," Ludwig explained, running his fingers through Ludwig's hair. "I admit I got obsessive. I had to do it. So I researched and experimented and...it took so long, but it was worth it."

He kept saying that. And he kept touching Gilbert. And it was nice, he supposed. But he just needed several minutes to think. "Ludwig, can you...get me water," he whispered.

His brother let go of him and left the room per his instructions.

Once he was alone, Gilbert looked around again, flexing out his limbs. This might explain why everything felt off. It was his brain's first time processing these things in a while, after all. That must be it.

Next to the bed was a framed picture of the two brothers, embracing one another and gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. At first glance he was puzzled by it. He didn't remember that. Maybe he had just forgotten...memory loss was probably something that just happened.

Him and his brother...the way they looked at each other was definitely not the way brothers should look at each other. Were they...?

Oh right, they were. Memories slowly flitted across his consciousness. They were lovers. Had been for several years. Slept together, went on dates together, loved each other...

Somehow, though, that didn't sit right. He loved his brother romantically? No way.

But he kept remembering that. Ludwig's arms around him, his lips against his own, his body weight on him, his-

He stopped right there and closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head to banish the thought. Not now. He was probably just in shock. That must be it. There was no way the brain could just continue to function normally after being dead for that long.

Ludwig came back shortly after with a smile on his face and a glass of water in his hand. He stopped in the doorway, taking a deep breath when him and Gilbert met eyes. 'It's so good to see you...sitting up, looking around, breathing! It's wonderful."

Gilbert just offered a strained smile and reached out for the glass. He took it carefully, drinking it quickly. He was incredibly thirsty, without even realizing it. "Ludwig," he said quietly once the glass was empty, placing it on the nightstand. "We're...um...together, right?"

"Yes." Ludwig said eagerly, sitting on the chair again, a bright smile on his face.

"How long?"

"Hmm...well. You were about eighteen. And I was fifteen, when we...got together."

Right. That fact stuck out to him. "I...approached you?" he said. He vaguely remembered that. Talking to Ludwig about how much he loved him and couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Yes. And I said I felt the same." Ludwig put his hand gently on Gilbert's shoulder. "It's okay. It will all come back to you in time. Spotty memory is...kind of typical of this. I'm pleasantly surprised that you remember as much as you do."

Gilbert looked at him, smiling back weakly. "Right...me too, Ludwig." He whispered the words, but this feeling of surrealism that nagged at the back of his mind would not go away. It was like watching the world through some kind of film or tint over his vision. Everything appeared fine, and there was no one thing that was jarringly out of place, however the world just did not seem the way it should be.

"I missed you so much, Gilbert. I love you." Ludwig's hand on his shoulder moved to his brother's chin, lifting it.

Gilbert's eyes met Ludwig's, and he didn't move even as Ludwig leaned in to kiss him gently. Gilbert kissed him back, hoping to squash the mental war raging in his head about how this was right, it wasn't right...had it always been like this?

"I love you, too."

* * *

_A/N: I thought it was going to just be a 2-parter but I want to keep the chapter pretty short, so this one will wrap up next chapter. Promise!_


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